Football: Is Maynard the man?

The quarterback competition obviously will attract the most attention during the spring. Jeff Tedford faces a major challenge attempting to get all of his signal-callers enough significant reps to make accurate evaluations.

But there are signs that Buffalo transfer Zach Maynard could be in a pretty good position. Maynard is believed to be the Bears’ best dual-threat quarterback. As Buffalo’s starting quarterback in 2009, he rushed for 455 yards. Tedford has acknowledged that more and more successful college offenses across the country are employing spread option-type attacks that requires a quarterback who possesses the threat of running.

That all being said, the bottom line is Maynard still has to be good enough. While throwing for 18 touchdowns in 2009, he also threw 15 interceptions. And the competition in the Pac-12 will be substantially more stiff than it was in the Mid-American Conference.

There is no question there is some uncertainty about Maynard. When he takes the field for Cal’s first spring practice on March 29, it will be Tedford’s first time watching him in person. But Tedford has said he’s eager to see what Maynard can do.

Jonathan Okanes

Jonathan Okanes is in his fourth year covering Cal's football team. Previously, he covered Cal's men's basketball team for four years. He can also be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/OkanesonCal.

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Also for the people who say Tedford wont go spread, but in-fact run a Multiple offense, which some people are trying to say Maynard won’t fit in, well he was actually recruited to Buffalo to run a Multiple offense under Turner Gill, the Spread wasn’t installed until Jeff Quinn took over at Buffalo. So it seams he would fit in just fine, and not just be a wildcat option like I’ve seen alot of people saying.

Easy Ed

Hey Kevin don’t be so defensive. Sugar Daddy Phil Knight will make sure your “Nike Ducks” have the best facilities money can buy, your teams will be the best equipped and your coaches the best paid. Still, the University of Oregon will be what it always has been, a second rate jerkwater university.

Bob49

Calbear,

I agree that most of the time QB’s are either primarily a pro-style QB or a spread style QB. But sometimes a QB can be both — witness the Auburn QB from last year or even the Florida QB who won the Heisman. I’d say Boehm is one of those rare birds who has the attributes of a pro-style QB (big and has a strong arm) but can also run the spread offense very well.

Also, BTW, you last post indicates that “. Just because we have spread concepts in our offense doesn’t mean we have the personnel to STAY IN THAT FORMATION ALL THE TIME.” Nobody said we need to run the spread all of the time, and I challenge you to find anyone who said that. It certainly wasn’t me. All I said was that he have run the spread in recent years.